Planners change procedures
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

The Chesterfield Planning Department has advised applicants filing for a rezoning that they need to follow tighter scheduling in order to be placed on the planning commission's agenda.

The commission has limited the number of cases that can be heard to 15 at its monthly meetings, but it allows deferrals to be added above that maximum case load. Because of the backlog of cases, some applicants are filing their requests and then requesting a deferral until their rezoning cases are ready to be heard, according to planners.

"The applicants are simply reserving space on the agenda," Midlothian Planning Commissioner Dan Gecker told the commission last month.

Beverly Rogers, assistant director for planning and special projects, told the commissioners that eight of the 11 new cases scheduled to be heard this week had not held a community meeting 30 days prior to the public hearing before the planning commission, as is required by the commission.

"Once applicants have filed with us," Planning Director Kirk Turner told the Chesterfield Observer, "we're going to advertise for a public hearing. If the case is not ready, the applicant needs to ask for a deferral." Several commissioners proposed not scheduling a public hearing until a community meeting had been held.

A deferral of 40 days or less costs $500 for a residential case and $230 for a commercial rezoning. The fee covers advertising and administrative costs.

Turner has met with Gecker and Clover Hill Planning Commissioner Russ Gulley to discuss possible amendments to the planning commission's bylaws.